Advice on prereqs? Applying to nursing school.

[emily12345]

I am so upset about the whole nursing school idea. I've always wanted to be a nurse but academically I struggle. No D's or F's but a few C's and lots of B's. I know I won't get into nursing school. I wanted to be done school in five years but its not turning out that way since I'll have to apply later and bring my GPA up. I'm more disappointed in myself. I always studied and went to every class but I didn't give it 150%. I'm 20 years old and I planned my future. I know that's probably bad to do but this obviously isn't going as planned. Anyone else struggle academically? I know I would make a great nurse. I could care less about the income. It hurts when people tell me I'll never get into a program because of my grades. I just want to hear something positive for once. Any advice on what to do? I know I'll have to retake chemistry. I have a C. I have a B in biology, nutrition, developmental psychology, and sociology. I have a C in basic psychology and a math course I had to take but it's not a prereq and doesn't transfer over. Obviously I know I'm not done my prereqs. I was going to apply to nursing school in January but I know I won't get in if my GPA is a 2.7. Should I wait and finish another semester and bring it up?

[x_factor]

With enough determination, anything is possible but it just takes a lot of hard work and dedication. I have learning problems, I struggle in anything I tackle, yet I've managed to excel in all of my classes so far. It just takes a lot of studying, a lot of time spent in the tutoring center at school, and a lot of time going over material in my professor's office if I don't understand something.

You will likely struggle and be hard-pressed to be accepted anywhere with a 2.7 GPA. However, you are not done with your pre-reqs, so you still have time to bring it up. Just do your best to make mostly A's, and that will boost up your GPA. As far as pre-reqs, you'll need a math (probably two, in most cases), usually College Algebra and Statistics. You'll also need a year of English, generally English Composition I and II. You may need Psychology of Development, check with your school, and humanities and art electives. Most importantly, you'll need your sciences. This includes A&P I and II, Microbiology, and in some schools, Chemistry. Since you already took Chemistry and got a C, yes I would repeat it. For a lot of school's, they hold the GPA of the science pre-reqs in high reguard.

Speak with an advisor at your school, or look online at your school's website, for a list of required pre-reqs for the specific program you plan on applying to, and map out how many more preqs you have to complete before applying.

Since you need to re-take Chemistry, and haven't taken any A&P classes or Microbiology, and your GPA is only a 2.7, I would wait on applying because you still have quite a bit of work to be done before you are a competitive applicant.

[stephanne]

You can still bring up your gpa.

[zoe92]

You can still bring your GPA up and you can still make your resume look good. Try to join clubs at your school or volunteer at a hospital. Try your hardest and go to office hours so your teachers see you are trying and can write you awesome recommendations. It is possible to get in to nursing school.